Graduating 3L taking questions

After 3 long, hard, frustrating years I have been granted parole from my law school. I got a couple weeks till graduation/bar prep. So I want to pass on some knowledge that I've gained thru-out my time here.

A. What was most challenging aspect(beside the obvious)of law school you had to overcome?

- The 2 hardest parts of Law School were probably:1. Learning to accept defeat/setbacks. I can handle a bad grade in a class. However in Law School this is the first time that many of you/us will ever run into rejection. Either rejection from the job you wanted/interned or rejection from journal/trial advocacy.

2. Constant competition. Even if you played sports, Law School creates a different more insidious form of competition during your 1L year. You are always competing against someone else for the most arbitrary form of recognition. It gets to the point where idiots are comparing which Professor assigned the most pages to read for class or which section has the smartest people assigned to it. Day after day, you feel as if you always have to prove yourself because of the arbitrary standards that this institution creates and places upon us. You quickly learn in Law School that you can't always be #1. No matter how great you were in undergrad, there is always someone better than you.

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B. Were you ever on the precipice of throwing in the towel? If so how were you able to persevere?

Nah, cuz I knew that when I stepped foot into Law School I wasn't leaving with that expensive-ass piece of paper. I've always wanted to be a Lawyer, I just never wanted to go to law school because the study of law has nothing to do with the practice of law.

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C. What's the best piece of advice you could offer a 0L starting this fall?

Contrary to popular belief, there is nothing you can do to gain an advantage over your soon-to-be classmates. I don't care how many times you read "Getting to Maybe" or "Planet 1L". Unless you drop $2,500 to take a BarBri course this summer, you will not have any noticeable advantage.

Your best bet is to go out and have FUUUUUUN this summer. If you need money, then go get a part-time job working with a lawyer in a field of law that YOU HAVE A STRONG INTEREST IN PURSUING. It will give you a leg up over you classmates that went to law school "because my dad is a lawyer and I figured I might as well be one, too."

What advice do you have for the class of 2009 who have just dropped $150k+ on this degree and are coming out into this economy with no job?

In the words of the ever-eloquent 8Ball & MJG, "Pimp Hard, Pimp Harder"

I have little remorse for my classmates who ain't got no job. Not b/c I'm a heartless bastard but because we have more education than 90% of the population.

Think of all the people you know that have half of our education, but still find a way to make a living for themselves. If you are looking for that cushy $140-60k job STRAIGHT OUT OF Law school, well you finna get yo feelings hurt cuz they don't want us.

However, if you are looking for a JOB IN THE LEGAL FIELD that will teach you how to be a LAWYER, then there is still hope.

what was your regular daily schedule like (outside of class)? How difficult did you find it to incorporate some parts of your life that had nothing to do with law school (ex: excercise, socialize, fam, relationships, and etc) into your schedule?

What advice do you have for the class of 2009 who have just dropped $150k+ on this degree and are coming out into this economy with no job?

In the words of the ever-eloquent 8Ball & MJG, "Pimp Hard, Pimp Harder"

I have little remorse for my classmates who ain't got no job. Not b/c I'm a heartless bastard but because we have more education than 90% of the population.

Think of all the people you know that have half of our education, but still find a way to make a living for themselves. If you are looking for that cushy $140-60k job STRAIGHT OUT OF Law school, well you finna get yo feelings hurt cuz they don't want us.

However, if you are looking for a JOB IN THE LEGAL FIELD that will teach you how to be a LAWYER, then there is still hope.

Good answer. Although heartless bastard would have also been acceptable.

what was your regular daily schedule like (outside of class)? How difficult did you find it to incorporate some parts of your life that had nothing to do with law school (ex: excercise, socialize, fam, relationships, and etc) into your schedule?

You have to make time for yourself. 1L year I would use our 3hr break in between class on Tuesdays and go get a haircut. Sundays would be my "ME" day, where I sat ant home, didn't answer the phone, ddin't study or nothing else, and I would just watch DVD episodes of 24.

I would find time to exercise in the evening around 9:00 b/c the guym closed at 11pm. I didn't go earlier in the evening because all the Fratboys and Sorority girls would hog the damn machines at that time.

I had to break up w/ my girlfriend at the beginning of 1L year just b/c i couldn't handle a long-distance relationship AND First year at the same time. My family understood why I wasn't around them as much or call as often because I brought them to friends-and-family day at school and they understood the crap I had to go thru on a daily basis. I wouls ee my friends from undergrad whenever we had a 3 day weekend or Spring break or such.

You have to learn how to say "NO! I'M NOT READIN'G ANOTHER DAMN THING!" and take some time out for yourself.